1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-141381, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
A type of endoscope device has been known which observes affected areas stained with a dye (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 10-201707).
A dye used for staining has an absorption band in the visible region. If an affected area is stained with such a dye, the portion where the dye has been applied can be easily observed with visible light. Thus, the dye facilitates the observation of affected areas with an ordinary endoscope (indigocarmine contrast method).
In order to increase the observation accuracy, a fluorescent agent is applied to the object as an alternative to the dye. Such a fluorescent agent is, however, substantially transparent in normally used concentrations. Hence, the visible light observation with an ordinary endoscope cannot determine whether the fluorescent agent has been sufficiently applied to a desired object, disadvantageously.